In a great interview with Josh Cohen at The Bicycle Story, Ed Ewing (Cascade Bicycle Club’s Director of Diversity and Inclusion) spells out the awesome and sometimes surprising ways that bicycling can help empower young people in disadvantaged communities to question inequality.

The club has shifted more resources to the Major Taylor Project and has made diversity and inclusion a core principle to all the club’s work, Ewing told Cohen.

“Serving diverse communities helps us learn and be better as an organization,” he said.

Ewing has been biking since he was a kid in Minneapolis, and he tells Cohen of some of the challenges and racism he has faced just trying to race a bike in a white-dominated sport. But Ewing worked hard to “thrive in spite of it.”

As an instructor and leader, Ewing takes time to listen to the students who join bike club, and they outline the challenges and possibilities with increasing bike advocacy and access in more communities in the Seattle region. Below is just a taste, but you should seriously read the whole thing.

The third phase grew from a debrief with the students. We asked them what they wanted to do next, what they like about bike club—they call the Major Taylor Project “bike club” on campus. They asked, “can we use the bikes to raise money?” I said tell me about that.

“Well, maybe we could do some sort of bike-a-thon to raise money and create a scholarship for kids going to college.”

Well what would you need money for?

“Books. A laptop. Lunch money.”

From there it led to “could the bike help me get into college? Could the bike help me find a job?” (more…)